Machine for stretching leather



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '1. G. L. ROYER. MACHINE FOR STRETGHINGLEATHER.

nted May 7, 1889.

' (No Model.) 2. SheetsSheet 2.

G. L. ROYER. MACHINE FOR STRETGHING LEATHER.

Patented May 7, 1889.

m NA.. I v 0 O FW: 9 Q w w o o M p m. ufluwnmwnlmfl M II IH W I -H H1W3; 1| a E 5% Lg -edge, as shown in Fig. 3.

NITE-D STATES CHARLES LOUIS ROYER,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF HALIFAX, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR STRETCHING LEATH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No,402,860, dated May 7,1889.

Application filed November 12, 1888- Serial No. 290,654. (No model.) I

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES LOUIS ROYER, a citizen of the United States,but now residing at Halifax, England, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Stretching Leather, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification.

Leather-stretchin g has heretofore been done by a machine whichresembles this in many respects, but which differs from it in the factthat it has not so conveniently-arranged and efficient a table or soconveniently-arranged and efficient a beam, and has but onetensionknife.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of a machine embodyingmy improvement. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same Fig. 3 is a planof the table of such a machine, and Fig. 4 is a section of the beam andtension-knives upon a large scale.

A is the frame of the machine, and B is the table.- This table is formedwith a curved A swinging arm, 0, is pivoted to the frame of the machine,as shown in Fig. 1, and is provided at its upper extremity with a bluntknife-edge, c, of a similar contour to the curvature at the edge of thetable. This knife-edge is a little below the plane of the upper surfaceof the table B, and the edge of the table may be formed, if desired,with a notch, into which the knife-edge fits, as shown at b of Fig. 1.

D is the leather intended to be stretched.

E is the tension-wheel. Upon its shaft 6 is a clamping device forfastening the edge of the leather to be stretched to the shaft. This maybe of any usual form. A treadle, O, pivoted to the frame of the machine,engages the power end of the swinging arm 0, and by its depressionbrings up the knife-edge c to a proper position to put a strain upon theleather. There is a beam, F, which extends across the machine from sideto side, and which is liftedinto place by the lever G, which is armedwith an eccentric upon its inner end. In the construction of the machinetwo of these levers G are usedone at each end of the beam Fin order thateither end may be raised a little higher than the other end, tocompensate in work for the inequalities of the leather.

On the head of the machine, on each side, are boxes H, in which aremounted the journals of a shaft, I. This shaft I carries upon one sidetwo knives, 2 and it, one of which, 1', projects in the vicinity of aninch farther from the shaft than the other, It. In the beam F, at thepart opposite the knife 2', is a groove, f, which is somewhat wider thanthe knife 71, and increased by twice the thickness of the leather to bestretched. The distance between the knives t' and k is such that whilethe knife'i is capable of entering the groove f the knife is willimpinge upon the upper surface of the beam F.

The piece of leather to be stretched, being placed in this machine andone of its ends engaged with the shaft 6 of the wheel E, is led acrossthe table of the machine and its outer end dropped down between theswinging arms 0, which carry the knife-edge o. The

treadle 0 being then depressed and the levers G raised and the wheel Erevolved toward the operator, the leather will be forcibly drawn towardthe operator, and will be held back in its movement by the tensionbrought to bear upon it by the engagement between the knife-edge c andthe edge of the table B. As this table is convex from the operator andthe knife-edge c is concave toward the operator, the leather will bestretched, or smoothed, or ironed from side to side, as well asstretched endwise, and the wrinkles smoothed out. In its passage acrossthe machine the leather first encounters the round-edged knife is, whichpresses upon the leather and presses it against the upper surface of thebeam F, while the knife *6 presses a bight of the leather into thegroove f of the beam F, bringing tension upon it over the edges of thisgroove and under the rounded lower surface of the knife 2 For thepurposes of adjustment, a handle, J, is applied to the shaft I, so thatit can be swung in and out of position, as may be desired, and a stop,8, is provided on the frame of the machine, in which is inserted asetscrew, 5', by which the swing of the shaft I toward the operator onits lower side may be limited and the knives t is adjusted in properworking position. Another stop, 8 limits the throw of this shaft in theopposite direc tion.

The combination of a lifting grooved beam with a single knife adapted topress the leather into a groove is not new; but the additional knife, k,adapted to press and smooth the leather against the upper surface of thebeam before it is drawn over the edges of the groove f and under theknife 1', has not, so far as I am aware, hitherto been made. Theformation of the table B, with its convex edge, and the combinationtherewith of the concaved knife-edge c is, I believe, also new.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In aleather-stretchin g machine, the combination of the drawing mechanismwith the table .13, convex from the operator upon its outer edge, withthe knife-edge c, concave toward the operator upon its edge and adaptedto engage with the leather, D, below the surface of the table B and putthe same in tension, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the adjustable beam F, provided with the groove f,and the roundedged knives 70, placed above said beam, one of which, i,isadjusted to press the leather into the groove f, and the other of which,76, is adjusted to press the leather upon the upper surface of the beamF, substantially as and for the purpose described.

CHARLES LOUIS ROYER.

\Vitnesses:

TI-IOS. WM. CLARKE, J. M. 1)OL|A-N.

